Jim and Diane Williams

Jim and Diane Williams

Jim Williams and his wife, Diane, opened The Williams Family Fund in honor of James T. & Ruth Ruhkala Williams at Placer Community Foundation. This unrestricted fund will address unmet community needs over the years through grants made in the family’s name.

The Williams family has lived in Loomis since the late 1890s and Jim and Diane live in Loomis today.

Jim and Diane are proud Placer County residents who wanted to give something back to their place of home, a welcoming community for newcomers. Both sets of Jim’s grandparents moved here to start a new life; his mother’s side, the Ruhkalas, emigrated from Finland, and his father’s side came west in a wagon train. Jim’s grandfather, William S. Williams, was Loomis Postmaster in the 1930s and his wife, Mary, was on the Board of Trustees for Loomis School. Jim explained, “They found a community that welcomed them and helped them find their way.”

Jim and Diane have had a similar experience living here, and they made the decision to open a fund as a way to preserve their family legacy and a thank you gift to the region. “Diane and I wanted to honor my parents, their families, and the heritage they gave us. This is a nurturing community where we built our home, raised our family, and started a business and we feel privileged to live here. This fund is in gratitude for the privilege of living in a place like this that offers so much to its residents,” Jim said.